For Manchester United, hiring Ruben Amorim could be a big mistake

Dutch coach, Eric Ten Hag was eventually booted out of Manchester United 30 months after his appointment in May 2022.

The former Ajax gaffer didn’t quite succeed with the Red Devils in terms of quality, squad depth and results but he was able to deliver two trophies( Carabao, FA Cup) in his two years in charge of the club .

Ten Hag inherited a very poor squad upon arrival at Old Trafford in May 2022, despite been trusted with a £616 million ($807m) war chest to rebuild it in his own image.

Almost two-and-a-half years and 20 signings later, United reached the lowest point of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era thus making the club lose its giant status amongst club sides in the English Premier League and by extension in continental games.

Ten Hag’s final game was against West Ham United in October 2024 and he led the team to lose by 2-1 thus leaving the club rooted in the second half of the log. As of the time of Ten Hag’s sacking, United were also 21st of 36 teams in the Europa League table, having drawn their three opening fixtures.

Ten Hag, 54, took charge in the summer of 2022 and led the club to third place in the Premier League in his first season.

He also guided United to their first piece of silverware in six seasons with a 2-0 win against Newcastle United in the 2023 Carabao Cup final and finished runners-up in the FA Cup final, losing 2-1 to Manchester City.

His second season in charge started poorly, with United finishing bottom of their Champions League group in the autumn but they picked up a trophy, beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose £1.25bn investment for 27.7% of the club was ratified in February of this year said the club’s problems extended far beyond the role of the manager.

“In the past 11 years, Manchester United have had a lot of coaches and nobody has been successful in that environment,” said Ratcliffe. “That says to me there is something wrong with the environment.”

But a poor start to the campaign, which has seen United win just one of their past eight matches in all competitions, has forced the board to act.

After Ratcliffe’s investment was confirmed, Ineos took over football operations at Old Trafford and quickly began a restructure with Dan Ashworth appointed sporting director, Omar Berrada as the new chief executive and Jason Wilcox as technical director.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined the club as Ten Hag’s assistant last summer, was named the interim manager and he’s done the unthinkable winning three matches and drawing one in the four games that he was in charge.

United already spotted Sporting Lisbon Coach, Ruben Amorim and was just tightening his employment when Ruud Van Nistelrooy dazzled and did wonders with the team.

After just four games in charge he has equalled the over all win of Ten Hag already in the season. United have their second-lowest Premier League points tally after nine games, with 11 points (they had 10 at this stage in the 2019-20 campaign.

*Van Nistelrooy vs Amorim.*

Nistelrooy still has two years left in his contract and was looking to stay on with Amorim but the Portuguese has different ideas.

Former United player and Pundits, Rio Ferdinand has explained his theory as to why Ruben Amorim decided to axe Ruud van Nistelrooy after his arrival at Manchester United. Moment after, the club confirmed that former United striker Van Nistelrooy, who returned to Old Trafford in the summer as Erik ten Hag’s assistant, was leaving.

The Dutchman had been keen to stay after overseeing an unbeaten four-game spell as caretaker boss since Ten Hag was sacked, previously insisting he would see out at his two-year contract.

Following up on the story from Laurie Whitwell, United released an official statement confirming Van Nistelrooy and three other coaches have also left.

The statement said: “Manchester United can confirm that Ruud van Nistelrooy has left the club. Ruud rejoined in the summer and has taken charge of the team for the past four matches as interim head coach.

“Ruud is, and always will be, a Manchester United legend.

“We are grateful for his contribution and the way in which he has approached his role throughout his time with the club.

He will always be very welcome at Old Trafford

But Amorim decided to go down a different path, with the 39-year-old set to be joined by five members of staff who were with him at Sporting Lisbon – assistants Carlos Fernandes, Adelio Candido and Emanuel Ferro as well as goalkeeper coach Jorge Vita.

Amorim, who officially started work as United boss on Monday, touched down from Portugal with his coaching staff around 2pm and was whisked straight to United’s training base at Carrington where he was greeted by senior executives.

Some fans and pundits have been of the opinion that United rushed to sign a new coach considering that he would be new to the system and the fact that he would be coming in as the manager in the middle of the season.

Although, Amorim’s record as the coach of Sporting Lisbon was very outstanding, where he won the Portuguese title years after it eluded the team but still many are not convinced that the Portuguese has all it takes to hit the ground running or stabilize the team considering the timing of his appointment.

As Amorim Takes Over

Ruud van Nistelrooy has successfully steadied the ship as interim boss since Erik ten Hag’s sacking and Amorim now inherits a much more settled scenario than was the case two weeks ago.

Amorim acted swiftly to decide to go forward without Van Nistelrooy as part of his staff.

There are plenty more issues at Old Trafford for Amorim to address, though.

Here, BH runs through some of the more pressing ones as he begins work in his new job after leaving Sporting.

Amorim’s formation has been the biggest talking point since his appointment was confirmed. Throughout his four-and-a-half years at Sporting, he has never stepped away from playing a back three.

The most pressing task facing Amorim on the training pitch before his first game at Ipswich on November 24 will be figuring out who can fulfil the specialised roles in this formation and familiarising the players with his system. Time is against him.

United are well-stocked at centre-back having signed Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt in the summer, but the wing-back position feels like a potential problem area, with few players standing out immediately as ideal for the role.

Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot are the obvious candidates. The returning Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are too but, based on their injury records over the last year, it might be difficult to rely on them.

Amorim tends to use a more attack-minded player on one side, often someone that inverts on to their stronger foot, which raises the possibility of some of United’s many wide forwards being converted into a wing-back.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the United shirt has weighed too heavy, hampering results and turning world-class players into flops.

Finding a way to address this, and the seemingly toxic environment around United, must be a priority for Amorim.

His record at Sporting would suggest he has the skills for the job, having unified the club after years of instability.

Transferring that to United is not a given, though.

More experienced coaches than the 39-year-old have tried and failed to do so.

Amorim’s handling of the scrutiny since becoming star of the United soap opera is very good. Navigating an awkward mid-season exit at a club close to his heart, Amorim has remained jovial and connected well with the media.

He seems to be a people person.

Although, firing blanks, United are blessed with two topnotch attackers, Zirkzee and Holjdlund but unsurprisingly, Amorim’s arrival at Old Trafford has brought with it a barrage of speculation about Viktor Gyokeres, Sporting’s star striker, and a potential move to Manchester.

He has, in contrast, scored 23 goals in 19 games this season.

The earliest United could sign Gyokeres, if he were to choose to follow Amorim, would be the summer, as his departing boss ruled out a January move.

And there is no certainty that United will pursue the Sweden striker either.

Amorim’s success and promotion to A-list cadre would now depend of what becomes of United under his watch.

Having seen Former interim manager, Van Nistelrooy transform the team under a very short span, it’s expected that the Portuguese hit the ground running from day one that work starts for him, only then his appointment wouldn’t be seen as mistake that was hurriedly made.

This is based on the premise that Nistelrooy was already cooking something with the club before his disengagement.

Next 10 games with Amorim in charge 

Ipswich Town (A) – Premier League – November 24.

Bodo/Glimt (H) – UEFA Europa League – November 28

Everton (H) – Premier League – December 1

Arsenal (A) – Premier League – December 4

Nottingham Forest (H) – Premier League – Dec 7

Viktoria Plzen (A) – UEFA Europa League – December 12

Manchester City (A) – Premier League.

Tottenham (A) – Carabao Cup – December 19.

Bournemouth (H) – Premier League – December 22

Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) – Premier League – December 26

Newcastle United (H) – Premier League – December 30.